A Love Lost
by SilverDolphin159
Summary: They were stronger, faster, older. I was no longer the immortal being that crushed all beneath my feet. I was cowering under an unknown evil, and everything had changed. It had changed the second I had looked into her mesmerising eyes, and there was no going back now.
1. Chapter 1: The Trip

Hello everyone! This is my first story ever, A Love Lost!

Okay, I am a total hard core Klaroline shipper, and there will be a little in this story, but mostly I am exploring a different part of the supernatural world, and Klaus is going to develope feelings for an OC, but please don't let that turn you off from the story! So just give it a try, and maybe you'll end up loving it! Also, there will be many different relationships with so many different characters, ones you know and those you don't.

In my story, there have been a couple things I've changed. First and foremost, Kol has not died! I think he was a really great character and they shouldn't have killed him off in the show! Also, Haley is NOT preganant with Klaus' baby. So you can all sigh with relief now.

You do not need to have seen the Originals to understand this story.

The story does get better! This first chapter is mostly filler, but once we get into the plot it gets so much more interesting!

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: The Trip

I was wandering impatiently around my mansion in New Orleans looking for something to do to pass the time. I swiftly took my cell phone out of my pocket and called my elder brother.

_"Hello dear brother, to what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call?"_

"Are you nearly here?"

_"Yes, my plane is currently landing. I will be there shortly. Are you ever going to tell me why you called this family meeting?"_

"I'll see you soon, Elijah," I said with a grin, and then hung up.

Things had settled down in New Orleans. After Elijah drove Marcel out of town and had the leaders of the supernatural communities sign a treaty of peace, he left quickly, not wanting to get in my way perhaps, and Rebekah quickly followed suit. I had taken control of my kingdom at last and the victory was pleasurable. None of the factions had taken a move against me in months and Marcel has not been seen since he was banished. After the course of a few months though, this city had become tiresome, I wanted something new, something different. I had won, and that was all that had mattered at the time. I never thought to look forward to what might happen in the future. But right now there was something missing, I could feel it. I missed them. I missed bantering with my siblings and always being able to have someone in my corner. It is different being alone here, whenever I go out and see people I have met before, they look at me with hatred. And they of course have reason to hate me. I have hurt them or killed someone they loved, and I don't blame them for the hate. I am not bothered by it, I am used to hatred, but when I came here I wanted people to respect me, to look up to me, and to...love me? No, that is impossible, no one can love me, the bastard child, the freak. And love is a weakness, I cannot have such weakness in my life. I quickly pushed my thoughts aside as my phone rang and Rebekah's name flashed on the screen. I picked up.

"Why hello sister! I am rather surprised to hear your call, considering you're mad at me for Marcellus' banishment. Which, by the way, I didn't even do."

_"It was your fault it happened! And don't even think for a second I have forgiven you for that, Nic. But I did not call you because I want to fight about Marcel. I am calling because I want you to tell me why the bloody hell your making me come to New Orleans!"_

"All in good time sister, I've got a surprise for you when you get here."

_"Dammit Nic, you know I love surprises. I'll be there in half an hour."_

She hung up.

Elijah was flying in from Europe, he was vacationing there with old friends and had been quite surprised by my call. Rebekah, on the other hand, had never left the country. She was in Virginia, in Mystic Falls of all places. She probably just stayed for the quarterback, but I'll hear all about that once she gets here. And God only knows where Kol has been. I only hoped that he had gotten my voice mails that I had left him and that he is now on his way to New Orleans.

It was going to be a short while before they all get here, what can I do to pass the time?

_Terrorize the local village,_ a small part of my brain thought.

I am definitely going to need a drink before they get here. I quickly left the house and walked a few short blocks to Rousseau's. When I walked in, I spotted a few familiar faces in the crowd of people. Diego was in a booth in the back along with a few other vampires I knew, he nodded at me when I walked in. At another table, Josh sat with Davina. They were talking animatedly until I walked in and they both looked at me. Josh with fear, Davina with hatred. She was going to have to get over the fact that I killed her boyfriend sometime. I almost feel sorry for her, love is a weakness, that is why she is hurting. Not because of me. I don't even look at her as I walk by, she is beneath me. I slide onto the stool next to Cami at the bar.

"Drowning your sorrows?" I ask in a slightly heavy tone as I look at the drink in her hand. I order a shot.

She just looks at me.

"I'm sorry about your uncle," I say,"he does not deserve this fate."

"Nobody deserves this," she says with sorrow in her eyes.

I quickly down the shot and say," Talk to Davina, she looks up to you and now that she's back in touch with the witch community maybe she can help." I look at my watch. They'll be here any minute. I quickly walk out the door.

I walk in the open door to the mansion, to already find Rebekah and Elijah chatting in the kitchen.

"Nic!" Rebekah yells affectionately as she runs towards me then takes a tentative step back. I laugh and give her a warm hug. I missed her. She hugs me back tightly. When she is finished, Elijah walks up and shakes my hand and gives me a warm smile. Our relationships have improved after we all spent time together in New Orleans, and I am happy to realize we might actually start acting like a family again. But another thought leaks into my brain; _what are you going to do to screw it up this time Klaus?_ I shake off the thought as Elijah speaks.

"What brings us here Niklaus? Trouble in paradise?" Elijah says as he steps back.

Rebekah pipes up, "Yeah! Why are we here Nic?! Where's my surprise?!" she said, sounding like a two year old. I smile at her.

"We need to wait until Kol gets here before I tell you," I say calmly.

"Ah, you're all waiting for me? How sweet." Kol says from the doorway. We all greet each other and make small talk until Kol says, "So Nic, why'd you bring us here? I was in the middle of something in Australia when you called. Or in the middle of two somethings." He makes a devilish face and Rebekah giggles.

"Yes me too Klaus! I was very busy!"

"With a quarterback," Kol says under his breath and Rebekah punches him.

"Enough with your quarells! I have news," I spoke with authority in my voice.

They all looked at me and waited for me to speak.

"We're going on a trip," I announce, and was rewarded with less than satisfying replies. Elijah just looked at me surprised, not saying a word about what he thought. Kol groaned and rolled his eyes at me, and was rewarded with a growl.

"So you brought us all here to go on a family vacation?!" Rebekah asked,"I had to drive in the car for 9 hours to get here!"

"We have not seen each other in months, and I have been getting bored of this place. I want to start anew in a new country and bring all of you with me," I stated, grinning devilishly.

"I'm guessing we do not have a choice in the matter?" Kol questioned with an expectant look on his face.

"No,"I growled, fed up with all their complaining, "you are coming with me, and that is the end of it."

All of this arguing had become rather tiring, and I wanted to end the discussion, but my family was not done bickering.

My statement was met with many words of anguish from Kol and Rebekah.

"You cannot make us go anywhere!"

"We aren't your damn slaves, Nic!"

"I am NOT going! So have a nice trip you bloody..."

Elijah cut in before his sister would do something she regretted, "If you are done with your tantrums I would like to speak now. You two are getting upset over nothing. Don't you both want to start someplace new? As a family? Nicklaus is the one who is trying to make that happen. We will all go, and if we do not find our new home satisfying we are all allowed to leave, correct Nicklaus?"

I nodded quickly so my family members would agree, it would be annoying if I had set all this up for nothing.

"Good, now may I ask where we are going?" Elijah said calmly.

"Rome."

I was met with complete silence as my siblings contemplated what I had to say. I was worried they would be angry and say no right away. Our past with Rome was not what I would call a good one. The last time we had been in Rome was nearly 600 years ago, and neither my siblings nor I had gone back since.

Kol spoke up,"I think it's a good idea. None of us have been to Rome for quite sometime. The last time we were there was when..." He glanced at me, not wanting to upset me.

"When I burned down the city," I blurted out, glaring at the rest of my family as I thought about what had gone down that fateful night hundreds of years ago.

Rebekah spoke up quickly, not wanting her siblings to fight,"Nic, why would you want to go back to that place after..what happened.."

"That city is the supernatural capital of the world. We were royalty there, true royalty. Unlike here, where the title King is just a lie. I want us to all go, and become kings as we were once in the city of Rome. There was so much under our control, we were important. Everyone in the supernatural community, all over the world knew our names and shivered with fear at the thought of us, and since then, we have faded into nothing more than a nightmare. I would have gone back earlier, if I had not been hunting for Katerina, or trying to break my curse. Now I am ready, and I think all of you are too, we can now go back to our thrones at the top of the world," I gave my speech with persuasion, trying to get my siblings to understand.

"Nicklaus," Elijah said,"we will not be welcomed back into that city. There will be another family sitting atop the throne you want so badly, we will have to fight, to start a war."

"And Nic, how do you even know the community is still as it was? It could have changed, there could be no king now," Rebekah added.

"I've had spies in Rome since we left; I know all of the events that have happened, and trust me sister, there is still a king. And Elijah, how hard could it be to take back the throne? We are the Originals, nobody can take us down. Taking the throne will be almost child's play," I stated with confidence.

"And what happens after you have your throne? Because I assume you will be the King, and you will throw us aside after you get what you want, and eventually, be it a year, or ten, or a hundred, you will get tired of ruling, much as you have here."

I growled at Elijah's accusations against me. "I will not get tired of my throne, I will have control over all that I have wanted, and I will be satisfied. As for you, my siblings, will also be kings and queens, but I will overrule you. Do you understand?"

"But we can leave?" Rebekah asked,"If we do not find the same satisfaction you do in controlling the city, we can leave, no strings attached?"

I looked at my sister and said," You have my word that you can leave, if you wish."

Rebekah looked away, touched by my words.

Kol, who had been quiet for a while, spoke up again,"I will go, I need a change of scenery. And those Italian women..." he trailed off and licked his lips.

Rebekah rolled her eyes at him,"Oh Kol, you're a fiend. I am going as well. It might be nice to be treated like a queen for a while." She smiled at me.

I looked at Elijah expectantly. He sighed, and finally said,"Alright, I will help you take back your throne Niklaus. When will we be leaving?"

I smiled at them all, glad that things were going my way."Tomorrow morning we will take a plane to New York, and then another plane to the Pastine international airport in Rome. You can all stay here tonight."

Rebekah frowned,"I didn't bring any clothes for a long trip!"

Kol smiled and said,"Dear sister, now you have an actual reason to buy new clothes." She giggled.

~O~O~O~

A few hours later, after my siblings and I had had a few drinks and discussed my plan in more detail and they had all gone to bed, I walked into my room about ready to fall off of my feet. I was exhausted. I pulled my shirt over my head and fell onto my soft mattress. I didn't even bother to change out of my jeans. Sleep would not find me though, and as the minutes ticked by and I lie in bed, I began to think about Rome, about what had happened there. Normally I did not let my mind stray there, but right now I was much too tired to care.

_600 Years Ago_

_I was just at the bar, and walking through the dirty back alleys towards my mansion. I was quite drunk, to say the least, as I nearly tripped over my own feet walking through a puddle. There were a few werewolves and witches in the alley, normally I would have avoided them. They don't like me very much. I had, after all, made them like this: poor, dirty. After I took over Rome I had taken all of the profits of the city and given them to my fellow vampires, with little left over for the rest of the werewolves and witches. I quickly shuffled along, not wanting to make a fool of myself. After walking for a little bit, I found myself in the corner on the alley, surrounded by werewolves and witches alike._

_They yelled at me, threatened me. I just laughed at them. "What could you do to me?" I shouted,"Why don't all of you just crawl back into the gutters and I'll be on my way and nobody will get hurt."_

_They just looked at me and smiled, like they had me under their control. _What idiots,_ I thought. They advanced on me, but before they could take another step, I used my vampire speed to rip out all of their hearts in record time. There were about twenty of them, and I didn't recognize any. I left their bleeding bodies on the ground. A vampire will be very satisfied with finding a snack like that. I walked the rest of the way home with blood on my hands that was quickly drying._

_I soon got to the front door of my mansion. I looked at the moon, calculating the time, surprised. I was nearly two hours early from when I was supposed to meet Scarlett. Oh Scarlett. Just thinking about her made my heart fill with love. A very powerful feeling, with my heightened senses that come with being a vampire. She is a human, and her feelings and emotions come easily to her. Her humanity is intoxicating._

_I quickly walked through the door, eager to see her. When I walked in my nose was filled with two different familiar scents, my second in command, Alexander, and my Scarlett. I did not think that Alexander would be here at this hour, it must be about something important. I quickly followed Alexander's scent, and I followed it up to Scarlett and I's bedroom. _That's strange_, I think, _why would he be in there?

_I open the door into the room and am appalled by what I see._

_There in my bed, is Scarlett and Alexander, making love. When I walk in they quickly look up, with surprise on their face. I can feel my face contorting in angry, but all I feel inside is grief and pain. Perhaps that is what you feel when people you trust and love betray you._

_I walk over to Alexander calmly. He says in a rushed voice, "Listen Klaus, this isn't what it looks like, we were..." I didn't give him a chance to finish as I ripped his heart out. Scarlett screamed. In the past I would've spoken to her, comforted her, but now, all I feel is anguish and betrayal._

_She too tries to speak,"Klaus please don't do this,"she is crying now,"we can get through this, my dear Nicklaus, I love you."_

_Those are the last words she speaks as I snap her neck._

_I thought that with killing the two people responsible for my betrayal would make my soul feel lighter, but that anger and grief is still there. I want to destroy everything, I want to get rid of everything that makes me think about her. I go down to the kitchen to grab some hot coals and burning wood from the fire. I compel some other vampires to carry it with me. The fire hurt, but I did not care, the pain feels good, it distracts me from the even more torturous feelings in my heart._

_I walk through the streets, starting fires, burning buildings. I hear women scream and children cry, but I cant find it in my heart to care. After half of the city had been burned down, and many deaths, I hear shouting behind me. I turn slowly and see all of my siblings standing there, staring at me._

_"Stop this Nic! People are dying! Why are you burning our city?!" Rebekah shouts at me._

_My other siblings are quiet, watching me with horror in there eyes. This is not their city, this is MINE. Everything is the way it is because of me. I think about my siblings and their lovers, for they all have one. We were all in love. Rebekah was engaged to a man named Edward, Kol was having a lovely time with a beautiful young vampire named Mira, and even Elijah and Finn had been seeing women and were both so happy. Until I ruined it._

_Why should they be happy? Why should they be happily in love but when I fall hopelessly, I get betrayed. What did I do wrong? Nothing! My thoughts almost shout at me, this was her! She was the one in the wrong! Not you! But why does it feel as though I am lying to myself? What did I do to deserve this?_

_I look at my siblings with my conflicting thoughts showing on my face._

_Rebekah sees the look and shouts to me,"What happened? What did she do to you?" But I was too preoccupied with my task to answer._

_I whispered, "Love is weak," with a tear running down my cheek._

_I take out four daggers. They look at the daggers with fright, and they turn, ready to get away from me. Before they can run, I use my superior speed and strength to throw them on the ground, daggers in their chest. I have never daggered them before, and I feel the guilt creeping into my thoughts, just then Elijah spoke to me softly._

_"I am so sorry Niklaus."_

_I was surprised, I turned toward him. "Sorry for wha.." but he was already gone._

_I straightened my back, wiped the tears off my cheeks, and looked into the night._

This is the last time love will control me,_ I think resolutely. I am so tired of letting my emotions take a hold of my life. _Then turn it off_, my thoughts whispered to me. I can't do this anymore, I'm done with feeling. I turn my emotions off with almost no force, it hurts too much to feel and I cant handle the pain of everything I've done anymore._

_I walk off into the darkness, and do not look back._


	2. Chapter 2: Her

Chapter 2: Her

~O~O~O~

With terror on her face, a young woman ran into the night, two young babies in her arms. She sped toward the forest as fast as her feet could carry her. The children in her arms cried out as she tripped over a tree root and twisted her ankle painfully. She made a small, whimpering noise but kept running.

"Just a little longer my darlings, we're almost there," the woman whispered to her babies.

A short while later, she limped into a clearing with a warm fire burning in the center. The full moon shone brightly in the sky. The babies, one with raven black hair and one with light, almost white, blonde hair, were now quiet, as if they could sense how terrified their mother was.

"Dorothy, we must hurry," the woman spoke with apprehension in her voice.

Dorothy, a woman preparing candles in the clearing, said,"Helen, we must wait, the moon has not risen to its apex yet," she walked to the edge of the clearing,"I am leaving to gather more firewood. You will be safe while I am gone?"

Helen nodded her head. Dorothy disappeared into the brush. _Please hurry back_, she thought to herself.

She heard the cracking of a branch behind her and turned around swiftly. A man stepped forward out of the shadows. He was wincing, and looked as though he had recently taken a beating.

"Helen, don't do this," the man said, as he walked closer to her.

"Don't take another step, Raymond!" she nearly shouted, with fear in her voice.

Raymond frowned but did not advance further. "Has it really come to this? All this yelling and fighting? You are my wife, I would never hurt you, my dear. Just give me the children, and I will take my leave and you will never see me again," he spoke gently, but he had a crazy look in his eye. He took another step towards her, when he suddenly clutched his head in agony, and then passed out.

Helen turned around, surprised. Dorothy stood with her hand raised, at the edge of the clearing, with a pile of wood at her feet. "I did not kill him,"she said," but I will if he ever threatens you like that again."

_It's not the first time_, Helen thought to herself, afraid to say it out loud, for fear of what her friend might do.

"It is time," Dorothy said," give me the children." Helen placed the babies softly on the ground and quickly kissed their foreheads. "And drag that vile man you call your husband over here," Dorothy ordered. Helen did as she asked and pulled her husband by his shirt over to the fire. She stepped back into the edge of the clearing.

"What are you doing?" Dorothy asked quickly,"you need to be in the circle to be a part of the spell."

"I know," Helen said somberly," but using magic on all four of us would kill you, and my life will end shortly anyway, you know that. I just wish to thank you, for everything. You have given me more than I have ever asked for. And you are giving these babies a life that they will not live in fear."

Dorothy spoke softly,"You say that as if you are going to die today."

She thought about the sickness she had caught unexpectedly weeks earlier. When she went to Dorothy about it, she had told her it would spread throughout her body. She wasn't going to get any better. She had months to live, at the most.

"Oh Dorothy, you know as well as I that the sickness will soon make me unable to think clearly, so I must get these words out now. I..."

She was cut off quickly as Raymond groaned on the ground, reminding them of the task at hand.

"I will see you afterward, Helen, we aren't finished speaking yet." Dorothy then raised her hands above her head and chanted in an unknown language.

_Goodbye, my sweet babies. Mommy will always love you_, she thought, sad she could not speak the words now. She had said her goodbyes before she had rushed into the forest trying to escape Raymond. But now that it was time for her children to be changed forever, she wished that she could hold her babies tightly, one last time.

She was not an idiot, she knew her husband would kill her after the spell took place. She just couldn't tell Dorothy that, because if she did, Dorothy would refuse to do the spell on her husband, and though he beat her and fought with her, some sick, twisted part of her heart still loved him. _They can be a family_, she thought, with silent tears streaming down her face.

She was ripped out of her reverie as her family before her started to glow an unearthly shade of white, as if their skin was made of stars. As Dorothy spoke the final words of the spell, she fainted onto the ground, with blood coming from her nose. Helen ran over to her and knelt on the ground. _Oh Dorothy_, she thought.

Behind her she felt, rather than heard, Raymond picking himself off of the ground. She shivered inwardly, and turned around to face her husband. He still glowed faintly, but it was fading quickly. There was a dangerous grin on his face.

"Now you don't have a witch to defend you,"he sneered," and I'm going to make you pay for this. Do you know what I am going to do to you sweetheart?" he asked venomously, "I am going to rip you apart, piece by piece and I'm going to enjoy it."

Helen just stared at him, too surprised to be afraid. She looked at him more intently. There was something different about him, other than his terrifying personality. _His eyes_, I thought, _they were different_. They practically glowed, and they were changing colors, blue, green, brown, and too many other colors to see."What happened to you?" she asked timidly, afraid of what he was going to say, or do, next.

"You did this to me! With your witchcraft and dark magic! I am a beast because of you! You made me this way!" he roared.

"You don't look like a beast," she quietly said, not really telling the truth.

"I can feel it, inside me. I feel like a beast, and with my new found animal instincts, I can barely control myself right now. I don't think I can stop my self from ripping your throat out much longer," he growled," good thing I don't have to anymore."

"You're a monster," she said, horrified.

He smiled. Not a warm smile, but a smile full of hatred and malicious intent. He stepped right in front of her and looked down at her, savoring the moment before he killed her. Helen did not run, it would be pointless, she was going to die. But that was okay, she had made her peace with the world.

_I know you will do great things one day, Eva and Talia, my babies, and I will always love you, even if you don't know it._

It was her last thought as Raymond tortured her, with her screams ripping throughout the night air.

~O~O~O~

"Nic! You have to get up soon or we'll miss our flight!"

I lifted my head groggily, hearing Rebekah's call from down the hallway. I groaned when I sat up; my muscles were sore from sleeping in an awkward position. I stretched and looked at the clock; I nearly gasped.

It's 7 o'clock! And our flight leaves at 8!

"Dammit," I said to myself and then hurried to the bathroom to shower. After I am dressed and ready, I walk into my room. There's no point in packing a suitcase; I will have many clothes and other necessities at the mansion on the outskirts of Rome already.

I almost smack my head with my palm. I forgot to call Diego. In my absence, he is the one who will be taking care of the supernatural community, and I had forgotten to tell him!

I take out my phone and quickly dial him.

_"Hey Klaus. What's up?"_

"I am going out of town for a while, and I want you to take care of the French Quarter for me."

_"What?! When were you going to tell me about this?"_

"I just did."

_"Look Klaus, I don't want to become another Marcel. If you're leaving, then don't come back."_

I was about to yell at him for giving me orders, but then I controlled my temper and said,"I wont be coming back. The Quarter is yours now, take care of it for me," I hung up.

I walked out into the commons where all of my siblings were waiting for me.

"Took 'ya long enough," Kol said grouchily, looking as though he had just rolled out of bed.

"Lets go," I said with a finality.

We all got into our separate cars and drove to the airport.

After we got to the New Orleans International airport, we hurried through the crowd at just a little bit above human pace. We practically sprinted to our terminal after getting through security as quickly as possible. When we got there, there were around 40 people waiting around in front of the gate.

I walked toward the desk in the middle of the chairs where a women in her late twenties looked overwhelmed as many people, who were supposed to be on the plane, yelled at her. I walked by everyone in front of her with many dirty looks and grunts of protest from them. I strolled right to the front of the desk and smiled a charming smile at the woman. I, of course, know the affect I have on women. This one looks slightly flustered, but smiles back at me.

"Can I help you sir?" she says in a polite, but slightly flirtatious voice.

I lean towards her and say,"Excuse me, love, but I was just wondering what's going on here?"

She says in a softer voice,"There is a slight delay on the flight to New York."

"How long,"I look at her name tag,"Amber?"

"3 hours."

My smile falters a bit; that is awfully annoying, I wanted to be in New York by 2 o'clock at the latest.

I look at her again. "Well that's unfortunate, but a face as pretty as yours definitely doesn't deserve to get yelled at by all these people. Isn't there anything we can do?"

She blushes at my compliment. "Of course, there is another plane leaving for New York in about one hour, but there is a limited number of seats on it."

I look her in the eye and compel her,"You will get me and my family on that plane."

She looks confused but quickly says that she will.

I wink at her as I walk away, and she blushes again.

"Nic, must your terrorize innocent girls?" Rebekah scolds me when I walk back up to them.

I grinned and said,"It worked though. We will be on a plane in an hour. So what should we do for that time?"

Ten minutes later, we were all seated at the bar, with our suitcases on the floor near our seats. After a few drinks, Rebekah stated loudly," I'm bored!"

"Sister can you not sit still for five minutes?" Kol asks, annoyed.

"What would you like to do then, Rebekah?" Elijah questioned her.

"I want to take a walk. Will you come with me Nicklaus?" I looked at her, surprised. It was no secret I was not her favorite person.

"Very well," I say, with a startled look on my face. She takes me by the arm and we walk away from the bar. We make small talk as we wander through small stores at the airport. I am tinkering with a snow globe that has a small alligator in it, when she suddenly looks at me seriously and says,"Nic, we need to talk."

"Alright then, talk, sister."

"Are you sure you're ready for this Nic? I mean after Scarlett..." she trails off, unsure how to proceed. I grit my teeth, not happy about where the conversation has turned. If I had known she wanted to talk about this, I wouldn't have come.

"What about Scarlett?" I ask, angry she has brought it up .

"Last time you were there you burned down the city Klaus, I think I have a right, as your sister, to ask if you're okay."

"I am okay. She is dead, the time has passed. I just want to go back to the city, reclaim it as my own once again."

She looks taken aback at my honesty. "Good."

"What about you? You know very well Edward could still be alive, he was a vampire after all. What if he is there?"

She has a dumb look on her face, she has not thought about the possibility of it at all. Her face brightens when she says, "Do you think he is still alive? Do you think he still loves me?"

I look away, we do not normally talk about things like love, we have never been close enough before, and I did kill most of her boyfriends.

"I do not know. But you are going to find out," I said, smiling at her.

We exit the store quickly and walk back to the bar to find my brothers gathering their things.

"Is it time?" I question.

Elijah answers, "Nearly, we need to get to the terminal now."

We walk at a fast pace to the terminal, and are relieved to find the plane boarding. We carry our things onto the plane and take our first class seats. I would have taken our own private jet, but I had planned this quickly, there wasn't enough time for such luxuries. I am seated next to Elijah and Rebekah, thankful because I don't think I could take sitting next to Kol for four hours.

The plane takes off at the time as planned and we are in the air. I looked at Elijah next to me and say, "You look rather uncomfortable Elijah, maybe it's the suit."

He just looks at me annoyed that I was right and says,"Nic we should talk about Rome."

I sigh. I look at him exasperated,"Elijah, I'm fine, honestly. I'm not going to go on a rage and destroy the city. I'm not upset about Scarlett anymore."

"Scarlett? I'm not talking about her Nic, I trust that you have enough self control to not have a fit about her again. This is about how were going to take control of the city."

I narrow my eyes at him, "Elijah, I told you, I have a plan."

He looks at me as if I'm an idiot. "Nicklaus, we are going to have to have a strategic plan about our taking over Rome. As much as you believe it, we can't just walk into the city and take control quickly and easily. I have bad feeling that this is going to turn into something out of our control," before I can interrupt, he continues,"and the ruler there, will have people, troops. There are four of us. We may be able to kill hundreds, thousands of soldiers, but I do not want to kill half of the population of the city, It would not be a good way to start your monarchy."

As much as I hate to admit it, he does make a point.

"Elijah, if it even comes to a fight, we will just recruit some vampires to fight with us, and if they will not join us, we can just compel them to do what we want. But ,I'm telling you Elijah, it will not be that difficult," I say with conviction.

Elijah looks as though he is about to object, but then thinks better of it and puts the subject to rest, but there was still uncertainty in his eyes.

Only an hour later, though it had seemed like a hundred with Kol's sexual innuendos, Rebekah's complaining and flirting with the man next to her, and Elijah being intensely quiet and contemplative as usual, we landed in New York, at the LaGaurdia airport.

We got on our plane to Rome, with no difficulties that required compelling of any humans. We had all had a drink from a blood bag at my house, but I was quickly getting hungry.

I lean over in my seat to the womon across the aisle and compel her to walk to the rest room at the front of the plane. I get up and follow her, with my siblings giving me a judging look. I shrug and grin at them and quickly walk to the bathroom. The woman confusedly asked, "What are we doing in here?" I smile at her and compel her not to make a sound when I lower my mouth to her neck and bite. She struggles but does not make a sound. When I have taken my fill, I cut open my wrist and shove it in her mouth, she pulls on my arm, but gives up after a little bit. After she has taken enough blood to heal, I look in her eye and tell her to forget everything that has happened.

She walks out of the room with a puzzled look on her face. I follow after her and take a seat next to Rebekah.

She looks at me,"Really Nic, you had to feed from her now? What if someone had walked in?"

I grin,"Of course I would have compelled them as well, and Rebekah, your grouchy mood leads me to believe you're thirsty as well."

She glares at me.

After 8 more hours of flying, we finally make our descent into Italy. It is night now and the lights of the city are beautiful. I look out the window, excited for the fun to begin.

~O~O~O~

We landed in Rome around 11 o'clock at night. It was decided that nothing important was going to take place until tomorrow so we had a few hours to waste. We drove the rental cars into the country side, rolling through the soft hills and valleys, finally going up a long drive to the Mikaelson Manor.

It was a lovely villa with a brick drive and a fountain in the front. I remembered that behind the house we had our own vineyard that was taken care of by compelled workers, and there was a large pasture where our many horses grazed. We parked the cars in front of the house and all walked toward the front door.

"This house is so lovely," Rebekah said in a whimsical voice.

Kol laughed,"It is rather nice, thanks to me. I was the one who organized the architecture for the place."

I scoffed, we all knew it was I who had drawn the place up.

He smiled sheepishly and said,"Well, I did the interior decorating."

I pulled a key out of my pocket and swiftly unlocked the door. The lights were already on, thanks to the servants I had called earlier. We walked through the doorway; they had done a great job cleaning up the place. The marble floors were shining, the paintings on the walls were dusted, and the place definitely didn't look like it hadn't been inhabited in 600 years. Of course it was not the house we had stayed in at the time. A few years ago I had called around to make sure an appropriate home was built, in place of our other one.

I walked into the dining room, with the others following me, as I looked at the large feast on our table. We were about to take our seats when a few young men approached us.

"May we take your bags, sirs and miss?"

We handed them our bags, and then sat down for a family meal. We were all famished, and dug our way through nearly all the food on the table, Kol eating the most. After we were stuffed, we sat in a large study/library, and drank wine laced with blood. After a little while, we all decided to turn in for the night, agreeing to meet and discuss our next move tomorrow morning.

Different servants escorted us all to our rooms and when I got to mine, a large room with mahogany furniture with a wall paper of deep red, I went to the huge bathroom to try to wash the smell of airport off of my skin. After my hot shower, I pulled on a pair of sweat pants and crawled into my bed.

It was going to be a long day tomorrow.

When I woke the next morning, tangled in my sheets, I was fully rested and ready for whatever was going to happen today. I looked at my clock. 11:30. My siblings must have wanted me to sleep in today, probably so I would be in a better mood. I swung my legs put of the bed, walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

I had bags under my eyes and my blond hair was very messy. I searched through the drawers until I found a brush, and combed my hair quickly. I brushed my teeth and put on deodorant.

My walk in closet was very large; what is one supposed to wear to meet kings or queens?

I quickly pulled on a dark, long sleeved shirt over my head and grabbed a pair of dark jeans; I didn't need to dress up for these people, after all, they would be bowing down to me soon.

I walked downstairs to find my siblings eating in the kitchen. There were bacon, eggs, pancakes, and pretty much any other food you would want to eat on the counter.

"I'm thirsty," I said to the room. A servant walks right up to me, rolls up his sleeve, and puts his wrist up to my mouth.

All of my siblings just stare at me.

"What? A little compulsion never hurt anyone," I say and smile, sinking my fangs into the servant boy's arm. When I am finished, I put a small amount of my own blood into a glass and hand it to him.

"Wow Nic , I've never seen you be so nice to your victims before," Rebekah says.

"Well, I wouldn't want anybody snooping around the house if they find servants with bite marks on them."

After the large breakfast, we all meet at the dining room table to discuss our next move, or rather, for me to tell them what to do. Rebekah was very opposed to the plan.

"Klaus, that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. We need to form an actual plan, to strategize," Rebekah glares at him.

"No, I think Klaus' idea is sound. If we simply approach the royal family, we are showing the them that we mean no harm. And if we get to see them, and see how they act, that is valuable information to us. I have already done my research, I know where they live and rule from. We could go there now," Elijah summarized for us.

"Lets get this over with."

After our agreement, and quite a lot of complaining on Rebekah's part, we had decided that Rebekah would stay behind, in case anything bad did happen to us.

"That's not fair! Why do I always miss all the action?"

"Because you're the youngest," I tell her as I walk out the door and shut it behind me.

We get into a rental car, and drive the twenty minutes towards the heart of Rome. We were in an uncomfortable silence until Kol finally said,"Why are there so many people here!? And how many of them are even supernatural?"

"80 percent of the people who live here are supernatural, I did not count the tourists," I state, looking out my window at all of the beautiful sights Rome had to offer. I spotted the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain, with hundreds of people milling around it. I had forgotten how wonderful this city is, and evidently so did my siblings, they were staring out their windows as well, taking in the sights.

After much too short a drive, we parked our car in front of a large, cathedral-looking building. It was a grayish color, with vines creeping up the bricks on the side of the building. It was very tall, with beautiful spires reaching towards the sky. It was a hauntingly lovely place.

There were many people walking around, and when we approached the building, two large men stopped us.

"Quali attività avete qui?" they asked us.

I stepped forward, ready to rip their hearts out, when Elijah laid a hand on my shoulder to stop me. He walked towards the men and looked them in the eye, and compelled them,"Let us through so we may see the King." They stepped aside with confused looks on their faces.

We walked into the room. It had marble floors and walls, with paintings hanging in nearly every open space. We walk through it toward another room, where a women sat at a desk, typing away at a computer. She looked up at us and said," Avete un appuntamento?"

I look at Elijah and say,"My Italian is a little rusty, care to translate?"

The women hears me speak and says,"Oh American, you must be tourists. Do you have an appointment with Ray?"

"Yes,"I say quickly.

"Name?"

I look her in the eye and compel her to let us through and see Ray.

"Y..yes of course. Take the stairs behind me, turn to the left, and you'll find the throne room."

We left her there, and took the directions she gave us. We walked into what must be the throne room. There were three people sitting atop three thrones. The middle throne, who I assume must be the king, sits a blond man in his early thirties. He has a beard, and a demeanor of haughtiness, probably one similar to mine. He is wearing a black suit with a black tie.

Next to him are two smaller thrones. To the right, there is a young woman who looks to be in her early twenties. She has blond hair that is cut squarely right at her chin, with an angular face and a pale complexion with ice blue eyes. She looks as if she could rip my throat out in a second. She is wearing a black gown that reaches the floor, with straps that go around her upper arms. She looks very regal.

Next to her, on the left, sits another girl, perhaps a bit younger than the blond. She has thick, black, gentle curls rolling down her back and lovely dark green eyes that seem to almost mesmerize me. I shake my head to get rid of the odd feeling. She has a heart shaped face, and is wearing a flowy dark blue gown with a sweetheart neckline. I look at her long legs and am surprised to see she's is barefoot. She has this wild, almost animal like quality, and is very beautiful.

The girl with the black hair has a bored expression on her face and is lounging on her chair when we walk in, but when she sees us she sits up and looks interested. The other girl just glares at us, and the king gives us a fake smile. The king, whom I assume is Raymond, walks up to us with a smile on his face, hands raised.

"Ah the Mikaelsons, I was wondering when you would come walking through our door,"he says in a low voice.

We look at him, confused.

He laughs and says,"Oh right, I forgot, you don't have any idea who we are! I am King Raymond and this,"he gestures to the girl on the right,"is Princess Eva, my daughter, and this,"he gestures to the left,"is my daughter Talia."

He walks towards us and shakes our hands. The girls follow, and we kiss their hands. When Talia gets to me, I feel a kind of shock run through me when I press my lips to her hand, and I smile at her. She does not smile back.

When we are all finished, I step forward and introduce myself and my brothers.

"This is Kol and Elijah,"I look at Talia,"and I am Klaus.

"Where is Finn, and your lovely sister Rebekah?" He questions us.

Elijah speaks,"Rebekah is currently not with us and Finn is dead."

"Oh, well I am very sorry to hear that." He then turns to Talia and says,"Talia, darling, don't you have someplace to be?" He gives her a pointed look.

"Oh yes,"she says with a strained smile,"I must be on my way. It was very nice to meet you all."

That was strange. It almost seemed as though he was dismissing her. To go do what? Or maybe he just did not want her to hear our next conversation. If so, then why didn't he make Eva leave as well?

Raymond turns to me,"We have much to discuss," he says with a slightly menacing smile.


End file.
